By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: It remains the central mystery of Joss Whedon’s “The Avengers.” How will The Incredible Hulk fit in to the mix when he has not had a proper introduction the way Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans have been introduced as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, respectively?
Oh, I hear what you are saying. Louis Leterrier’s “The Incredible Hulk” unveiled the character. But Ed Norton’s not back as Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo takes his place), and we have yet to see Hulk footage in any other Marvel material as the studio continues to market Whedon’s 2012 blockbuster.
Today, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige spoke with the L.A. Times about the green monster, and shed a few details. It’s a tremendous read, which you can find HERE, and it opens up a world of possibilities for where Whedon can go with the character.
“It will be as different as ‘The Incredible Hulk was from Ang Lee’s ‘Hulk’ in terms of its look and design, but it is Hulk,” Feige explained. “Hulk is Hulk. We’re not going to reinvent the wheel.”
As for the hero’s size, Feige said, “He’ll be about the same size he was in ‘The Incredible Hulk’ [which was about 9 feet tall] or maybe a little bit smaller. His muscles won’t be quite as cut. We figure he’s been the Hulk now for a few years and [his physique is changing]. … The most important thing is that face. As you can already see in that concept painting, it is — more than any Hulk that’s ever been done in live action — a Hulk that let’s you see the actor in there. You will be able to see Ruffalo in there.”
But how much screen time will Hulk get? And will he start “The Avengers” on the side of good or evil? That’s still to be determined, but we have time until “Avengers” launches the summer season in May 2012.
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By Sean O’Connell
Hollywoodnews.com: Those who have been tracking the progress of Marvel’s “The Avengers,” directed by Joss Whedon, saw character art for Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Black Widow and Hawkeye reach the Internet. The last piece of the puzzle, the truly unknown element, was Whedon’s version of The Incredible Hulk, which has looked different from Ang Lee’s version to Louis Leterrier’s take.
But that last image dropped with a “Hulk Smash!” over the weekend.
Here’s Whedon’s Hulk, in poster form:

Now click over to Marvel to see the complete character banner in one long poster.
We’re getting closer and closer to “The Avengers,” which launches Summer 2012 in May. Now let’s get an official clip of that “Avengers” trailer online … now!
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By Roger Friedman
HollywoodNews.com: There’s a big hub bub going on in Marvel land.
The reason? Edward Norton has been dumped from “The Avengers” rather than reprise his role from the 2008 film “The Incredible Hulk.” Comic fans are going crazy trying to piece all this together. Norton’s reps say first Marvel was negotiating with them, then all of a sudden issued a not so nice explanation for their decision to skip it.
Norton is a smart, talented guy. But he really had a bad time with Marvel on “Hulk.” He spent hours and days rewriting Zak Penn’s script. At the 2007 Comic Con, Norton bragged about writing the screenplay. But it was Penn who got the credit.
In the end, Norton had such a falling out with Marvel that he skipped the movie’s premiere and went off to some island to lick his wounds. He exited the promotional campaign without a contract to do sequels, although both Liv Tyler and director Louis Letterier each had them. That was two years ago.
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By Scott Mendelson
hollywoodnews.com: Two summers ago, Marvel rebooted a franchise that grossed $245 million on a $130 million budget (funded by Universal). Said reboot, intended to be a more audience-pleasing (ie – dumbed down) variation on a the Incredible Hulk, ended up grossing just $263 million worldwide on a $160 million budget (this time funded by Marvel itself). But that was ok, because now we had a Hulk cast that could seamlessly blend into the new Marvel movie universe and could fit right in with the eventual Avengers film, right? Right? Oh… right.
Drew McWeeny of HitFlix broke the story yesterday, and Marvel confirmed it today. Edward Norton will not be reprising his role as Bruce Banner/The Hulk in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers.
The official statement denied that it was a money issue for the notoriously cheap Marvel Studios, but rather a creative one. The key passage below:
“Our decision is definitely not one based on monetary factors, but instead rooted in the need for an actor who embodies the creativity and collaborative spirit of our other talented cast members. The Avengers demands players who thrive working as part of an ensemble, as evidenced by Robert, Chris H, Chris E, Sam, Scarlett, and all of our talented casts.”
Ouch. So basically Marvel has refused to allow Edward Norton to come aboard because he’s not a ‘team player’. I’m sure this has much to do with the public fight that took place in summer 2008, when director Louis Leterrier and star Edward Norton battled the Marvel suits over the final cut of The Incredible Hulk. Leterrier and Norton wanted a real movie with character development and drama, Marvel wanted 105 minutes of fight scenes with a bare minimum of connecting tissue and character work. What’s ironic is that this was the rare occasion when Edward Norton was not accused of taking over a film from the director, but rather fighting with the director for the preferred artistic vision.
Also ironic is that it pretty much negates the whole point of rebooting the Hulk franchise in the first place. Heck, the second picture climaxed with a Robert Downey Jr. cameo for goodness sake. With Norton out, the expensive and not particularly profitable redo will be rendered just a curiosity in the dustbin of comic book films. It’s not as ambitious or as artistically inspired as Ang Lee’s flawed but fascinating tone poem, and it’s no […]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The National Society of Film Critics on Saturday named Jean-Luc Godard's 3-D film "Goodbye to Language" the best picture of the year, narrowly choosing it over Richard Linklater's acclaimed "Boyhood," for which Linklater won best director.

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